


The Branding Society

by Dorktapus42



Series: Come Together-verse [25]
Category: Youtube (RPF)
Genre: All sorts of fun stuff today folks!, Helplessness, Oh hey look callbacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-26 20:54:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18290048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dorktapus42/pseuds/Dorktapus42
Summary: Phantom has made many, many deals over the years. He doesn’t regret them, most days. However, there are a couple that come back for revenge.





	The Branding Society

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to NightmareJasmine for the amazing idea! This was really fun to write, so I hope I gave it justice!

 

Phantom whistled as he walked, cane swinging lightly from his hand. Life was good. Mare was off at a party or something, he had some alone time… it was nice. 

He slowed down as he reached a richly-gardened… it could either be described as a house or a manor. He was leaning more towards house. Ego manor was more impressive. This one was too… white. It was too perfect. Too… unordinary.

He unconsciously turned onto the gravel pathway and stopped right past the gate. What was he doing? He didn’t want to go adventuring. That wasn’t really his cup of tea. 

But something seemed to be sucking him in. 

He gripped his cane harder and walked through the wrought-iron and glass doors. 

Might as well see what this was all about. 

 

\--------

 

Host grasped the piece of paper tightly in his hands. Contrary to what he expected, instead of his normal illegible script, there was a drawing. 

A mask eerily similar to the one on the wall. 

When he tried to focus on it- 

He was plunged into a vision. 

_ His hands were sliding, trying to grab purchase on the painted wood. His only weapon taken away. He had nothing to get him out of this situation. _

_ Black and red.  _

_ Phantom.  _

A quick scan of the manor came up empty for cloves and fool’s gold. Another scan found Mare’s familiar mossy, mildew-y aura was here. Phantom was alone.

Shit. 

 

\-----------

 

He had to admit- the maroon interior was rather nice. Dark wood, dozens of paintings… it struck a chord of familiarity. 

But where were the people? 

He rounded a corner and stopped at a dead end. There was a shelf full of wooden masks. 

Masks that he recognized. 

But he’d sealed that deal a long time ago. Nothing should have remained, if the failsafe had come through. 

Unless he’d built a following?

He spun on his heel, holding his cane aloft as he heard a noise behind him. 

A figure in a white rabbit mask stood silently. Then that same, haunting giggle that had grabbed his attention. 

_ “You shouldn’t have come here Sharp. We have… a bone to pick with the one named Phantom.” _

Ah shit. 

Her eyes focused on the cane. He swore the lighting on the mask flickered so it looked like it was smiling. 

_ “And here you are. What a lovely surprise.” _

The tip of his cane hit the ground- but nothing happened. He couldn’t leave. He couldn’t teleport. 

Then it was swiped from his grasp and he was pushed backwards with a gloved hand. 

His face grew paler as his back hit the wall. Without his cane he was nothing. His mind went blank. He couldn’t think of a single way to get out of this situation. 

The white rabbit advanced. He looked to the side. A door! 

He darted to the left and put it between the two of them. Oh great. A bathroom. He was basically just postponing the inevitable. He looked down at the knob. No lock. 

He looked for something he could use. Then he noticed the shattered mirror. The hell? 

His eyes widened as the pieces fell into place. Oh shit. He remembered something that he’d overheard one day. Wilford and JJ went and rescued Nate from a manor very similar to this. How he got here he had no clue but...

This was the Branding Society. 

He had made a deal with a guy, oh, probably two years ago. Maybe a little more, maybe a little less. He said he wanted to be feared but his face didn’t give him what he wanted. He signed a contract so that wouldn’t be a problem. 

He’d handed over a mask and a smile, saying it would solve all of his problems. 

The mask was fine for a few hours… just long enough for him to get out of dodge. 

Then it grafted onto his face. 

He had done what he asked. His face wouldn’t be a problem any longer. But apparently that wasn’t the answer he wanted. 

That was one of the few souls he hadn’t managed to collect. But the failsafe triggered, and the man disappeared within a couple of weeks. Easy. Harmless. Or so he thought.

And now he was stuck here with people bent on revenge. 

Shit. 

 

\--------

 

“Dark!” He stopped halfway down the hall and focused for gunpowder and quartz. In his office. He changed direction. “Dark!” He flung the door open. 

|What?|

“Phantom is either in trouble or going to be. The Host figured it out. Not why the Host couldn’t remember, but he will figure that part out eventually.”

Dark stood. |Get back to where you were. Where is he?| 

Host hadn’t quite gotten there yet. But he’d see if he could find him. If he was in the Void he should be able to-

Wait a second. It almost blended into the blackness of the Void but… there was a square blacked out from his vision. And cloves right outside. He had been here recently. An image of Phantom strolling the street flickered over the image of the road. He had definitely been there.

This seemed familiar. He recalled a mission Dark had sent Wilford and JJ on about a year ago- 

The square filled in. Aha. They had figured out how to block it without prior experience with the area. He’d have to figure out how that worked later but for now… 

“Corner of Ronnie and Buddi. Three houses down. Large white manor. Where Wilford and JJ retrieved the mask from the Society. Branded.”

Dark nodded and disappeared. He was… getting Wilford and JJ. Good plan. They had managed to accomplish a task there before, they knew the layout. 

He mentally brought up a map so he could keep track of them. Dark was staying here, while Wilford and JJ were over at the house. The two of them should be okay, right?

 

\----------

 

Phantom was freaking out. Somehow he’d managed to keep the door from opening so far but… 

He wasn’t going to last much longer. 

And he was useless. He had no cane, no backup, nothing he could do… 

Something slammed hard into the door behind him and he was pitched forwards, unable to keep his footing any longer. 

Shit. 

His feet caught onto the tile and he managed to push the door back a few inches. Hands grabbed at his sleeves from around the wood. 

He was so screwed. 

His legs were getting really tired-

Then his left heel slipped and he knew he was done for. 

He took in a deep breath as a crazy idea surfaced. Last resort.

“C’mon. C’mon. With everything… falling down around me.” He felt the building start to quake and he squeezed his eyes shut. “I’d like to believe in all the possibilities.” His right heel slipped and he barely caught himself as his eyes flew open, the door sliding another inch. “C’mon… c’mon… with everything… falling down around me… I’d like to believe... in all the possibilities.” His voice grew slightly stronger as his arms started to shake, hands clutching at his wrists, threatening to pull him from his position with each tug. “So c’mon, c’mon… with everything falling down around me… I’d like to believe in all the possibilities.” He summoned all of his strength and basically yelled the last three words. “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” There was a massive shudder all the way to the floor, and he spoke the last sentence with hopeful conviction. “It’s late and I cannot seem to find my way home tonight.”

He felt a yanking feeling deep in his gut and his vision went dark in a wave of black.

 

\-------------

 

Wilford and JJ looked at what used to be a manor. It was now a pile of rubble. 

_ *Do you want to see what we can find?* _

He nodded, eyes scanning the mound of wreckage. A few gloves were sent out. 

There were some bodies, of course. Masked. They left them where they were.

But the important thing was there. Well, kind of. There was his cane.

The once-beautiful relic was split in half. But they collected the pieces anyway. Someone might be able to fix it. 

No sign of Phantom but… he wasn’t in the wreckage either. He’d most likely made it out. 

Then Wilford got a text. 

 

**Darky: Phantom’s here. You can come back.**

 

Well then. He relayed the message to JJ, who looked relieved. 

They grabbed the two pieces and disappeared in a flash of pink smoke and glitter.

**Author's Note:**

> Ohh boy what a blast that was to write. 
> 
> I'm not going to give many hints for the next work, but let me just slide in this one: there will be a face returning. (Yay descriptiveness!) 
> 
> My posting schedule might slow down a bit? Not much, but like: instead of three or so a week it'll be two, or maybe even one. I'm running through my cued stuff like wildfire at this rate, and it's taking me a bit to write some things. Either way, I hope you enjoyed, and that you all have a great day!


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